Live and in color DMA UAB started without a hitch. Evan Doyle, Aya Fukuda, and Nick Guissal along with our two IMPACTs Karla Dixon and Kent Klarer got registration off to a wonderful start while George was on his way from The DMA in Monroe, LA. Also on his tails coming from Louisiana were Parker Denson and Sam Simonton who closed DMA- LA earlier that morning.
This location represented many states from all over the southeast. We also had a number of participants from Texas and Delaware. Competition was tough even though we were not VET heavy at all. Many students stepped up and took the lead in a number of squads.
Lodged in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham was a wonderful background for the third Drum Major Academy of the summer. On night two, we had over half of the workshop participate in a mace workshop. Unfortunately this was the only time that we could get this session in due to the weather not cooperating with us on the third and fourth evenings.
George pulled the entire group of drum majors with a wonderful evening full of starred thoughts and even a story or two on night three. No march off tonight due to rain but fret not. There would be more to come.
Squad competitions stepped up even further on day four with a Super squamp concluding the morning. The beautiful southern afternoon was accompanied by sessions filling the students with even more knowledge to fill their toolbox full with information to take back to their bands and build the program that they have dreamed about since they were freshmen marching for the first time. Even though rain bogged down the evening festivities yet again, the evening was filled with lots of “Ha’s,” “Claps,” and “Stomps!” I will say after taking a survey of the group, the staff took it upon themselves to go on a mission to find one of the greatest “Starred Thought” movies ever… HOOK! So the evening ended with a little movie and a great question and answer session with the entire staff.
The staff closed down a DMA-SHA (Sweet Home Alabama) with a little hype march off, which the staff won… WOO HOO! Go staff! Parker did fulfill his promise to the students by equaling out the numbers of march offs by letting the students win in the final session in front of the parents. With numbers right under 100, DMA- UAB packed a powerful punch of intensity from beginning to end. Everyone met a new friend named Joe, the power of the block blasted the Business and Engineering Building, and Friends will be Friends Forever.
